Jay B. Massey Collection

Collection — Folder: 1 (SC 4-6)

Identifier: 1989-028

Staff Only

Digital Images from the Jay B. Massey Collection

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Scope and Contents

This small collection has a photocopy of the Cowboy Reunion Program from 1910. Photographs consist of one panoramic of the 101 Ranch personnel dressed as Roman soldiers for the Julius Caesar Spectacle in Wichita, Kansas, dated 1930. There are two rodeo postcards in the collection one of each of Harry F. Stauffer and Jack Hoxie. There are two autographed photos from a John A. Guthrie. The rest of the photographs are of the 101 Ranch. Jack Massey and Leo Murray are present in one of the photographs.

Dates

Creation: circa 1890-circa 1930

Creator

Massey, Jay B. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The Jay B. Massey Collection has no restrictions and is available for research. If you are interested in researching the materials, please contact the Dickinson Research Center to make an appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

The Jay B. Massey Collection is the property of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Materials, even if owned by the NCWHM, may be protected under third party copyright. It is the patron’s responsibility to research and secure any such additional copyright and pay any required fees or royalties. It is not the intention of the NCWHM to impede upon any third party rights, and the NCWHM cannot be held responsible if the patron is involved in legal action due to violation of third party copyright claims.

Biographical / Historical

There is next to nothing mentioned in the rodeo files or books about Sgt. Jay B. Massey of Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Texas, and Jack Massey of Pawnee, Oklahoma. Two articles from Hoofs and Horns identify both gentlemen as sons of “Papa” Gus Massey.

“Papa” Gus Massey was born in Waverly, Tennessee, on July 20, 1876, and soon after moved with his family to Fort Worth, Texas. The family later moved in 1900 to Oklahoma, or at that time called Indian Territory, to an area called Calera. Gus Massey kept his home there since. He was a pioneer cattleman and rancher in Oklahoma. He also took up promoting and producing rodeos during the 1920s. Later Gus Massey was a representative of C.H. Hyer & Sons, bootmakers from Olathe, Kansas. He was so well known for his benevolence towards cowboys and rodeo contestants that he earned the nickname “Papa Gus.” He married Nancy Elizabeth Duckworth, a Chickasaw Indian maid, and they had seven children. One of the best known of these children was Jack Massey, who was with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show five years and who judged a number of rodeos. Gus Massey died from a heart attack on September 14, 1943, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, while attending the Cattlemen’s Convention.

Sources: Clancy, Fog Horn. “Memory Trail.” Hoofs and Horns, November 1936, Vol. VI, No. 6. Clancy, Fog Horn. “A Prince of Good Fellows Rides On Over the Horizon.” Hoofs and Horns, December 1943, Vol. XIII, No. 6.

Extent

0.08 Linear Feet (1 folder (SC 4-6))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This small collection includes several photographs and photographic postcards taken on the Miller Brothers’ 101 Ranch, some of which are personally autographed photos from John A. Guthrie.